Chapter XIX.

The first opportunity accorded the settlers of discussing matters of public concern was in connection with Earl Grey's proposal to send to the labour market of the various colonies such convicts as had undergone the chief part of their punishment in the home country. With true benevolent intention his Lordship hoped that this project would give the exile a fresh start in life's race, and enable him to become a respectable member of society; and at the same time would provide for those settlements requiring it a cheap labour. For years the transportation question had been debated in the adjoining colonies, where a large section considered that the supply of labour derived from ticket-of-leave men and expirees was a boon not to be dispensed with. Such a sentiment it was not surprising to find amongst communities whose foundation had been laid under the convict system, though even there it was strongly discountenanced by the majority of those who led public opinion.

But throughout New Zealand the people spoke with no uncertain voice. At a largely attended meeting held in the church on the 26th of May, 1849, Mr. Valpy took the chair, and several resolutions were passed rejecting in strong terms Earl Grey's proposals, which it is but fair to add were left entirely at the disposal of the community.

Three or four months after this episode a lengthy and remarkable letter was received by the Hon. Mr. Petre, a page 114Wellington settler, from his friend, Mr. E. G. Wakefield. This was evidently intended for the information and discussion of the New Zealand Company's settlers, and a copy accordingly was received by Captain Cargill, who called a meeting for the discussion of its contents. The writer gave a short and almost secret history of the Company's proceedings during the previous two years, since indeed the arrangement made with Earl Grey. This he characterized as suicidal, inasmuch as it destroyed its independence, its power as a great colonizing agent, and reduced it to a mere appendage of the Colonial Office, a condition secretly schemed for when the arrangement was entered into. All this, he contended, involved its sure dissolution upon the expiry of the three years' probation granted by Earl Grey. Holding these opinions, and advancing others, he had felt it his duty to resign his office of Director.

The letter was canvassed with much warmth and some anxiety in the older settlements. It was plain that the days of the Company were numbered, and that with its downfall the interests of the settlers would be seriously implicated. It had always interposed between them and the inimical Colonial Office, and had long fought for the bestowal upon them of self-government. Many viewed the loss of such a champion with grave concern. Others hailed with delight its coming dissolution, and spoke of unfulfilled pledges and continuous disaster. Thus there were two parties. At the schoolhouse in Dunedin the meeting was of an unsatisfactory kind. Many, probably most, knew little of the matters before them, though plainly set forth by the chairman and Captain Cargill. The separate functions of the Company and of the Association were confused, if indeed they were even known to the bulk of the audience, and both were blamed for every grievance and complaint. Many professed that Captain Cargill's defence was prompted by no deeper motive than that of self-interest, and that if the bodies, of which he was the official representative, were swept away, the settlement would progress amain. Amidst so much that was disagreeable and unfounded public feeling was aroused; and those who, in past surroundings, would never have heeded such subjects from cradle to grave, now developed into heated partisans.

The strictures passed upon Earl Grey in Mr. Wakefield's letter cannot be defended. That nobleman was a true colonial statesman, and he was amongst the first to page 115recognise and develop colonial interests. His occasional failures and ill-conceived suggestions resulted from the difficulty of dealing with subjects insufficiently known and neglected. Mr. Wakefield's intimate reason for withdrawal from the Company was pretty certainly none of those advanced by him. With his remarkable astuteness he saw that the ship was sinking from its inherent inability to float, despite the assistance of the "arrangement." Yet he professed to believe that this overweighted it.

Another point of political contact with which the settlers made early acquaintance was that connecting them with the general government of the country. The theory of the settlement was its self-supporting character, and that its revenues should consequently be expended, or almost wholly so, within its own borders. This has already been rendered plain to the reader. The returns were made up quarterly, and by the end of the sixth quarter—the 31st of December, 1849—the receipts totalled in round numbers £3400, of which it may be incidentally mentioned £1240 were derived from duty on spirits and £250 on tobacco and cigars. The expenditure for the same period of eighteen months was about £2500, the chief items of which were found in the customs and police departments. The surplus of £900, which had gradually accumulated in the Sub-Treasurer's strong iron box—for there was neither bank nor safe—awaited dispersion. Discussion was already rife as to the best mode of effecting this; a custom-house, a court-house, better postal arrangements, were required, and it had become quite evident that the roads and bridges could never be constructed out of the funds accruing from the few land sales. Great, therefore, was the dismay when it was reported that the cherished surplus was to be forwarded to the Government treasury at Wellington, and thence disbursed with little favour or affection. An indignant meeting was held in the school-house or church, at which protests and resolutions were passed and forwarded to Wellington. Fortunately these were endorsed by the bench of magistrates, or the results might not have been so favourable. A month later the money was returned with a polite letter from the Colonial Secretary, who explained that it had been removed to Wellington solely for "greater security," and that there was no intention whatever of ever appropriating any of the surplus revenue to any purposes unconnected with the settlement. Perhaps the incident and the surplus were not forgotten when a judge of the Supreme Court, Mr. Sidney Stephen, page 116was appointed a little later on with, a salary of £800 a year, and nothing to do.

It is beyond the scope of this volume to give a history of the rise and growth of the New Zealand constitution; this the writer proposes to give hereafter. But a necessary reference must be made to it. For years the colonists had unavailingly agitated for self-government and the control of their own affairs as embraced in the responsibility of representatives elected by themselves. This they considered a birthright, and for its possession they never ceased to fight. One of Lord Grey's generous concessions in 1846 was the granting of a constitution which conferred such rights. To the great vexation of the colonists this Act was suspended for five years on the recommendation of Governor Grey, who considered it inopportune and likely to occasion a fresh outbreak amongst the native population, who were not sufficiently included in its provisions. The old autocratic form of rule consequently remained undisturbed save for a few slight alterations, which were supposed by the Governor, but by few besides, to be of a liberal character. The colony was divided, for the convenience of government, into two provinces—New Ulster, the northern, and New Munster, the southern; the latter included the Wellington district and the whole of the south island. These alterations came into force at the beginning of 1848. Each province had its own Legislative Council, presided over by a Lieutenant-Governor, who nominated a few non-official gentlemen to sit and deliberate with him and his executive at the meetings of this Council. Mr. Eyre, afterwards well known in connection with the Jamaica insurrection, was the Lieutenant-Governor of the New Munster province. Both Councils and both Lieutenant-Governors were subordinate to Sir George Grey, who, as Governor-in-Chief, was empowered to exercise the most complete control, and to make such legislative provisions as seemed to him best fitted for the country. When by the tedious communication of those days the official correspondence between Sir George Grey and the Colonial Office became known, the feeling aroused was bitter and angry, and meetings at Wellington and Nelson denounced in no measured terms the deception practised and faith broken. At Auckland the people were more content; there the seat of government had always been, and there were the loaves and fishes. So passionate elsewhere was the popular feeling that with, difficulty did Sir George Grey equip the new Legislative Council at page 117Wellington with its non-official members—"nominees" they were called, a term which indeed became one of reproach. The efforts to gain self-government were, however, redoubled, and did not cease until they were crowned with success. With these early efforts Otago had nothing to do; her career had but just commenced, and to the noise of distant strife she had hitherto paid but little heed. But in November, 1850, Governor Grey, who was accompanied by his wife, paid his first visit to the newly-established settlement. He remained a week nearly, and then proceeded in H.M.S. Fly to the Auckland Islands, where an extensive whale fishery was being formed by Mr. Enderby. He was the guest of Captain Cargill, and during his stay he ingratiated himself with all classes by means of that urbanity and grace which he so successfully used to captivate. He promised an expenditure of £700 in carrying out the little jetty to low water, the building of a hospital, and the completion of a swampy piece of road near the present South Recreation Ground. In an open space at the back of the Royal Hotel he held a levee, which was attended not only by the "gentlemen," as they were called, of the place, but by almost every settler, who appeared in his Sunday's best. Then followed the presentation of an address, which, after much excellent preliminary, expressed the desire of the community not only for representative government, but also for a municipal charter, with full-fledged mayor, aldermen, and councillors. Sir George Grey won golden opinions on all sides, and was cordially invited to spend a month with his new subjects a little later on. He discussed the contents of his new Provincial Councils Bill, which was, no doubt, the outcome of the increasing discontent with his former measures, and which he was highly desirous to pass. It accordingly contained more provision for representation than any previous measure, in so far that whilst one-third of the members consisted of an executive and nominees, two-thirds were elected by the people on a property franchise. To complete the history of this Bill—it passed through the Legislative Council on the 9th of July, 1851. Immediately thereupon, and to give it effect, three Proclamations were issued, the last two relating to the preparation of a roll and the registration of electors under the Ordinance, and to the number of representative members. Under its provisions, to Dunedin town was allotted one member, and to the country district two. But Earl Grey disallowed the Ordinance as being ultra vires. It conse-page 118quently never became law, and the old autocratic rule prevailed for another year, until swept aside by the coming constitution. But the Bill served a good purpose amongst the Otago community. It was discussed with uncommon vigour, and supplied them with a good object lesson in politics.

One circumstance connected with it, or with the Governor's visit, was greatly to be deplored. The Governor discovered that Mr. Valpy's sentiments regarding the granting of self-government to the people were similar to those which he himself professed. Both held that the people were incapable of rightly exercising so great a gift, one which would prove a dangerous weapon in their inexperienced hands. Such a creed is held to-day, and those who hold it point to the present condition of this and adjoining colonies as another example of its truth. Thus it was that Mr. Valpy was offered and accepted a seat in the nominee council, a gift from the Greeks as it proved.

When the unwelcome fact became known, which was in May, 1851, the usual recourse to a public meeting followed. This was attended by about 350 persons, with Captain Cargill in the chair. A resolution was passed requesting Mr. Valpy not to accept his nomination to the Legislative Council, as this was inconsistent with the feelings and principles of the settlers so unanimously expressed at a meeting held in the December previous. This was carried by a very large majority, and it was further determined that a deputation should wait upon Mr. Valpy. Mr. E. J. Wakefield made the speech of the evening, entering fully into the wrongs the New Zealand people had ever suffered at the hands of their rulers, and which would continue until self-government had been won. The interview of the deputation with Mr. Valpy was followed by a correspondence of a month's duration, in which Mr. Valpy sustained his position in a dignified way, regretting that his views differed so widely from those of his fellow colonists, and begging that they would permit him the enjoyment of a peace and unobtrusive retirement which he sought when coming to these shores. It cannot be said that the rejoinders were marked by the same good tone. Still the time was one of great excitement, and the people rejoiced in the new-born idea that they were fighting for another magna charta, regardless of person and sentiment. Mr. Valpy never took his seat, and probably never intended to do so. He accepted page 119it as a courteous invitation from the Governor, and resigned it on the score of ill-health.

It was long before the last echoes of this turmoil ceased. Whether the proprietors of the Witness dreaded a crop of libel actions or not, it is certain that they reaped a rich harvest for some time in the shape of letters from one belligerent to another, which, assuming the shape of advertisements, fairly bristled with thrusts and counterthrusts enough to have satisfied a body of warm-hearted Irishmen instead of sober-headed Scotchmen. It was at this time that the smart and appropriate sobriquet of the "Little Enemy" was affixed to a small but obstructive body of gentlemen in the community, mostly of standing and intelligence, and supporters of Sir George Grey. English and Episcopalian, they were viewed as intruders —as flies in the ointment—and reciprocated by seeing in the special scheme of the settlement and its leaders all that was narrow and intolerant. In a superior way they stood aloof from the rest, and their attitude was one of opposition. Influential with the Governor, they were able to inflict reprisal for the well-deserved castigations administered in the Witness's columns. No quarter was given, no consideration shown on either side. The advent of the beneficent constitution finally ended these bickerings, and rendered both parties harmless for future mischief; and though the term "Little Enemy" clung long, it was rather as a memory than a badge.

The valuable Otago Settlers' Association was formed on the 31st of May, 1851. Dr. Robert Williams was the chairman, and the first members were Messrs. W. H. Cutten, D. Napier, J. H. Harris, J. de la C. Carnegie, Geo. Ross, W. Stevenson, and Angus Matheson. It was an extension of similar associations which had already been formed in several of the other settlements. Its object was, like them, to deal with subjects of general and local importance in the Colony, and further to watch over the disposal of the various funds placed in the hands of trustees by the Company and Association for the benefit of purchasers and settlers. Half-a-crown was the annual subscription, and by the end of the year upwards of one hundred persons had enrolled themselves as members.

Though so much lively commotion agitated the community, no crime disturbed it, nor was there anything of what lawyers term civil business. Mr. Strode, who had been advanced to the offices of Resident Magistrate and Sub-Treasurer, competently dealt with the few offences page 120brought before him, aided by his four policemen. Breaches of the liquor law, runaway sailors, and mild misdemeanours filled his list, to which was occasionally added a racy open-air quarrel between from two to half-a-dozen respectable citizens. The gaol was proportionately simple. Originally it had been a tent, equipped with leg-irons and handcuffs; later it was built of timber, surrounded by a fence of manuka, which, with all precautions, was not too secure. The gaoler thus trusted greatly to the honour and high principle of his prisoners. The story is true that Johnnie Barr, the first gaoler, now and then treated his flock to half a day's holiday, with the strict injunction to be back by eight, or they would find themselves locked out!—an injunction rarely disregarded in the absence of better shelter or chances of escape. His successor, Henry Monson, who came out in the John Wickcliffe, also carried out a simple and happy form of gaol discipline, and must have been beloved by those committed to his tender care, though sad to record he often met with base ingratitude. His journal was quaint and diffuse, and abounded in moral reflections. He tells the story of a man brought in for being drunk and disorderly, who, after sleeping soundly for two or three hours, woke up and complained of being very ill, "suffering of combined dysentery and diarrhea and hemorhagia, he appears in much pain and is constantly demanding of me to get bail. Here was I, a new beginner, with 3 prisoners, one declaring himself dying and the others complaining of my cruelty to a sick man. What was I to do in the absence of all persons who could have advised me, I had none. For Mr. Strode had that afternoon taken all the police and gone a-pleasuring in a boat with his family on a visit to Mr. Garrick at Sawyers Bay. I could not send for the colonial doctor, having no one at command to send. The man continued to be getting worse (at least he affected to be so), and added it was at my peril to refuse him that liberty. In the absence of all instructions I paused, I considered. In the meanwhile the man was still pressing his case upon me, 'that to remain longer he would certainly die,' the other prisoners taunting me with usage of cruelty and murder." The distressed gaoler finally drew up a bond for the man's appearance the next morning before Mr. Strode, and let him go to "see the doctor and then to bed." Arrived at the hotel door, the man thought "a glass or two of brandy the best doctor, and took it too." He was put to bed drunk, and did not put in an appear- page break

From a sketch: by]
Dunedin, January, 1849.
[Mr. (Sir W.) Fox.
[To face p. 120

page break

Key-Plan And Description To Mr. (Sir W.) Fox's "Dunedin, January, 1849."

1	First Church.
2	Garrick's House (Royal Hotel).
3	Emigrants' Barracks.
4	High Street.
5	Maori Landing Place.
6	Land Office.
7	Kettle's House.
8	Valpy's House.
9	Park's (Surveyor) House, about middle of Liverpool Street.
10	Cutten's House and Office.
11	Rev. T. Burns's House, with Brown's, Chapman's, and Cargill's adjoining.
12	Jetty.
13	Liverpool Street. [To face p. 120.

page 121ance for a day or two. Mr. Strode severely reprimanded the unfortunate Monson, who ventured to plead that what he had done was right in the eye of the law and of humanity. "He then, out of temper, said: 'I tell you again you have no business to do such a thing; rather let them die in their cell than do it again, and as to your bailbond, as you are pleased to call it, the thing is not worth the paper it is written on.' I now left him giving no reply, for I felt sore at heart; having confidence in the rectitude of both motive and action, and retired grieved. Such is Life, and such the Proud man's contumely, such is the haughtiness of office, and such I felt it."

Viewing all this as a sample of the immaculate character of the people, it is evident that a droll but expensive absurdity was enacted when, in July, 1850, Mr. Justice Sidney Stephen was appointed judge of the Supreme Court at Otago with a salary of £800 a year. This gentleman was a member of that well-known family connected in historic ways with the colonies. The Permanent Secretary of the Colonial Office, long credited as a firm foe and stumbling-block to colonial advancement, was a relative; and the late Sir Alfred Stephen, Chief Justice of New South Wales, was a younger brother. Accredited, then, by Sir George Grey to his new charge, Mr. Stephen came down in the Poictiers from Wellington, and there remained for eighteen months. Thrice during this time was his court opened on the duly fixed dates, and thrice was there neither civil nor criminal business to transact. Yet it was opened with more circumstance and ceremony than attend the busy sittings of to-day. A numerously-attended levee marked the first occasion, and the business was then concluded by the issue of summonses against those unfortunate jurors who, though there was no case to try, had yet defaulted. One was fined £10, afterwards remitted; another 40s. On the last occasion, four policemen in uniform carrying wands were marshalled in front of the courthouse; the sheriff, also with a wand, led the way, followed by the registrar in his gown. Whatever further dignity was wanting was supplied by the crier and his sonorous voice.

This extravagant farce was a burden too heavy to be borne, and with groans it was pointed out as another example of despotic rule. The paper and the Settlers' Association rebelled against it, and before the due date of the next sittings Mr. Justice Stephen had taken his departure, avowedly to supply the place of Mr. Justice page 122Chapman who, about this time, left the colony for Tasmania. Perhaps this departure was precipitated by a remarkable case in the Magistrates' Court, wherein Mr. Stephen figured at once in the double character of plaintiff and defendant. As complainant, he alleged that certain defamatory reports and a document had been circulated concerning him in connection with an unsavoury scandal. At this point he came in as defendant, and was charged with having violently assaulted one of the publishers of this libel. His justification to the court for this proceeding was that he "could not wait for the slow and tardy proceedings of the law." Both cases were given in his favour by the casting vote of the chairman of a large bench of magistrates, and the other parties were committed for trial at the next Supreme Court sittings. But it was plain that public opinion was not in his favour, for a subscription was started on the spot for the defence of those considered to be the victims of an unjust verdict. And when leaving the court the well-known Dr. Manning intercepted him in such a way as in those days ended in a challenge. The Doctor, however, was bound over to keep the peace. Of course, when the due date again came round there was neither court, judge, nor prosecutor, and the dilemma was solved some weeks after by an announcement in the Government Gazette that the Supreme Court at Otago had been abolished. Nor did it sit again for nearly seven years afterwards, when, on the 25th of March, 1858, Mr. Justice Gresson reopened it with one prisoner to try.

At the close of its first year's existence the editor of the Otago News regretfully told his readers that he must stop publication because of the poor support he received, the strenuous efforts made to suppress him, and, he might have added, the inherent weakness of his paper. By many, especially those of the opposition, this was recognised as a retrograde step, and it was acknowledged that, so far as he had been able, the editor had exposed many grievances, had often written vigorously and, as he considered, in the best interests of the community. A subscription of £80 was raised to enable Mr. Graham to carry on. A cordial tone prevailed at the meeting at which the presentation was made. Mr. Graham confessed his errors, and promised amendment. But he set forth his difficulties: he could get no literary assistance, and he was sole editor, compositor, and pressman. For six months longer he struggled on, surrounded by the old difficulties. page 123Then came failing health, and amidst the unequal struggle the paper ceased.

Now was the time to establish such a paper as it was hoped would meet the requirements of the whole community. Mr. Valpy, with his usual liberality, at once advanced £150 for the purchase of the old type. A company of eleven shareholders was formed, consisting of Messrs. Valpy, Cargill, Burns, Johnston, W. H. Reynolds, John Jones, W. H. Cutten, E. McGlashan, and James Macandrew. The value of the shares was £10 each, of which Mr. Valpy took ten, and on the 8th of February, 1851, appeared the first number of the Otago Witness, so called after the Scottish Witness edited by Hugh Miller. It was agreed to edit the paper weekly by turns, but this not answering, Mr. Cutten was appointed editor at £1 a week. Mr. Valpy early withdrew his connection, feeling deeply aggrieved at what he considered the unjust manner in which the paper had treated him in the correspondence above referred to. Finding that it did not pay dividends, and that it was otherwise a source of trouble and anxiety, the proprietors generously presented it to Mr. Cutten in October, 1852. This gentleman had a staff of two printers, Messrs. Daniel Campbell and J. B. Todd, the former of whom had been specially engaged in England for three years, a free passage for himself and wife, and 30s. a week. As editor Mr. Cutten was undoubtedly able, full of caustic humour and smart satire, qualities often valuable in his onslaughts upon the "Little Enemy."

With all this ability he was tiresomely careless and procrastinating, and his faithful compositor occasionally found it necessary, in the interests of the paper, to guard or even lock him up until the all-important leader was forthcoming. The advertisements were very few, and the circulation small: 120 covered the latter, of which sixty were sent abroad. The careful community, well knowing the value of sixpence, managed to reduce the price by joint subscription, and in this way half a dozen people passed the paper from hand to hand. Better days came, however, when parliamentary duty called the editor to Auckland. His friend, Mr. W. H. Reynolds, then acted as locum tenens, and by his activity soon put the paper on a better footing. He was first confronted by a strike of two printers, whose wages, always paid in driblets, were now three months in arrears. This difficulty settled, Mr. Reynolds canvassed for extra advertisements, and more than doubled the subscribers, so that for the first time not page 124only was the paper out of debt, but on his return the editor received as a bonne bouche a surplus of £50. Todd, one of the printers, died; but, equal to the occasion, Mr. Reynolds procured the assistance of a friend, and the two then spent the night of publication in turning the press to the tune of bread and cheese and beer. The reporting was generally done by an after concoction of the speakers themselves, as there was occasional complaint that Mr. Cutten's reports were only too literal. Mr. Macandrew was a frequent political contributor, and Mr. Burns treated of subjects connected with the church and settlement, and it was he who prepared the elaborate weather reports which appeared monthly. In 1854, with the advent of the Constitution, the paper was much enlarged. And then in 1856, due to a difference between Messrs. Cutten and Macandrew, appeared the rival Colonist, a formidable opponent, well written and conducted. It flourished for eight years, when it was merged in the Leader and Daily Telegraph. But the Witness survived, and when Mr. Yogel (afterwards Sir Julius) arrived in 1861 from Melbourne, its final fortune was assured. This gentleman joined Cutten in partnership, and soon afterwards it became and remains the property of the Otago Daily Times and Witness Company. The Witness holds the distinguished position of being the oldest newspaper in the Colony, and will shortly complete its 2300th number.

The name of Mr. James Macandrew has been mentioned. This gentleman arrived from London on the 17th January, 1851, in his own schooner, the Titan, bringing as a venture a large quantity of merchandise. He thus arrived just prior to the floating of the Witness, and at the time of the semi-political quarrels which enlivened its earliest columns. Inclined to politics and public questions, he identified himself with them at once, and thenceforward to the time of his death he was the energetic mover and leader of all that contributed to the advantage of his adopted home, which he loved with the fervour of a patriot. Highly speculative, he saw bright visions in the future for the Province; full of energy, he endeavoured to anticipate and realise them. Like Judge Stephen, he could not brook delay, but sought to quicken the slow and tardy process of time. To such a temperament money was no more than means to an end, and it was this feature of his character which involved him in trouble, and on one memorable occasion seriously so. But he surmounted these difficulties; his courage was page 125high, his admirers many, and his labour in their behests undisputed. So whilst many spoke of his grave misconduct, more sympathised with his misfortunes—as they were pleased to call them.

Fellow passengers on the Titan were Mr. William Hunter Reynolds, a merchant who always took great part in the policy and well-being of the Province, and who at this day is a member of the Upper House; the Rev. T. Nicholson and wife, en route to a Presbyterian charge in Hobart; and Mr. G. B. Shaw, an engraver, who sketched the picture of Dunedin now reproduced for the first time.